SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 19 



cut into stripes like ribbons, and sold by 

 measure. It was exposed to the air, and dried 

 without salt ; so that one of my companions, 

 a German gentleman, mistook it for the en- 

 trails of the animal placed round the bone. 

 The show of fish, however, made some 

 amends, for it was such for variety and beauty 

 as I had never before witnessed, nor even con- 

 ceived. I was aware that the finny race pre- 

 sented more resplendent hues and varieties of 

 forms, when fresh from their element, than 

 birds and insects, but now I became more fully 

 convinced of this truth. Hundreds of various 

 species, glowing in all the colours of the prism; 

 surpassing the lustre of precious gems and all 

 the brilliant tints of the humming bird, 

 covered the stones of the market-place of .Vera 

 Cruz. How greatly did I regret that my time 

 was so short, as only to permit me to prepare 

 a few specimens of the more extraordinary. 

 Of the whole number the mullet (Mugil Ce- 



c 2 



